Thousands crowd streets of Phnom Penh for cremation of King Sihanouk

Thousands of people crowded the streets near the Royal Palace in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to witness the public cremation of their controversial former King Sihanouk.

By David Eimer, Phnom Penh

3:20PM GMT 04 Feb 2013

King Sihamoni, the present monarch, lit the funeral pyre just after six in the evening local time with his mother, Queen Monineath. Monks chanted until fireworks exploded and a 101-gun salute boomed out to mark the end of the ceremony.

Crowned in 1941 and married six times, Sihanouk, who towered over public life for six turbulent decades, is still revered as the 'King Father' for guiding Cambodia to independence from France in 1953.

"I came here to show my gratitude and respect to him. The king did a lot for us," said one mourner, 60-year-old Kun Then.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister, senior Chinese politburo member Jia Qinglin and Southeast Asian heads of state joined the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen in paying their last respects to the late king.

Sihanouk, who died of a heart attack in Beijing on October 15 aged 89, had been lying in state in the ornate, temple-like structure where he was cremated since Friday, when his body was taken from the Royal Palace and escorted through Phnom Penh in a procession over half a mile long.

After his abdication in 2004, the monarchy lost much of its power and prestige and Cambodia may not stage a funeral on such a grand scale again. "It'll be the only time I get to see something like this," said Pangphath Sovan, a 19-year-old economics student.

Yet, Sihanouk allied himself with the Khmer Rouge after he was deposed in 1970. His support for Pol Pot's murderous revolutionaries played a major part in their rise to power.

Some Cambodians are ambivalent about his controversial role in history, and far fewer people watched the cremation than the estimated half a million who lined the streets on Friday for the funeral procession.

Mourners cry during the cremation of former King Norodom Sihanouk (AFP / Getty)